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Mark Kiszla: Book the CU Buffs for the NCAAs

CU's Spencer Dinwiddie puts up a shot over Oregon defender Jonathan Loyd in the first half of Thursday night's game in Boulder. Dinwiddie scored 17 points as the Buffs won 76-53 to improve to 20-9.story, 6B (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

BOULDER — No Andre Roberson for Colorado? No problem.

As the Buffaloes ran No. 19 Oregon out of the gym during a 76-53 victory, happy faces in the crowd included Jake "The Snake" Plummer and John Elway.

Elway landed the slightly better seat. Go figure.

But, true to his everyman roots, you can be certain Plummer paid for his ticket.

"Actually, I did," Plummer said Thursday night.

"This is the third CU game I've been to this season. They're playing good basketball."

Good? No doubt. The Buffaloes are so good, they feel like dancing.

It's unofficial. But go ahead and book the trip. This victory punched CU's ticket to the NCAA Tournament. I can't see even the biggest knucklehead on the selection committee giving a thumbs-down to the Buffs, whose record improved to 20-9.

"No, no," protested coach Tad Boyle, still scarred from a tourney snub two years ago, a wound that cut straight to the heart, as he sat in his living room, surrounded by stunned players and boosters. "I wish I could say yes."

The victory proved two things.

No. 1: The players in the CU program have grown so much they could survive the absence of the 11 points and 11 rebounds per game provided by Roberson, out indefinitely with a viral infection.

"They never blinked," Boyle said.

No. 2: Every bracketologist in America can finally remove the Buffs from the bubble. After dispatching Oregon State on Saturday in the final regular-season game, it shouldn't matter how Colorado plays in the Pac-12 Tournament, except for NCAA tourney seeding purposes.

Years ago, among the many pearls of wisdom I learned at the knee of former Nuggets coach and great basketball philosopher Doug Moe was this: A good team without a top player for one night is more dangerous than a wounded animal.

Back in the day, when Moe discovered a foe was suddenly and unexpectedly missing a star for one game, he used to say ... well, he used to utter a word not fit for print. Then Moe would add: "We got no shot."

What the Buffs did while dismantling the Ducks is based on the theory of everybody pitching in, with each healthy player picking up 10 to 15 percent of the slack.

Giving something his friends to tweet about, freshman Xavier Johnson scored 22 points. Senior guard Sabatino Chen scored off one crossover dribble so sweet it could make Allen Iverson think about going back to practice and work on his trademark move. Dinwiddie, the foundation for this team's confidence, added six assists and seven rebounds.

"This program is bigger than any one player, or any one coach, for that matter," Boyle said.

All 11,013 CU fans in the arena, however, should have been asked to sign a get-well-soon card for Mr. Roberson.

Moe's theory does not apply to lengthy absences.

If the Buffaloes intend to dance for very long in the NCAA field of 68, getting Roberson back in the lineup is essential.

"You can kind of overcome so things in the short term," said Boyle, who understands the value Roberson as well as anyone. "But if it's long-term thing? Which I don't think it will be. I don't think it will be."

With the Buffaloes comfortably leading by 22 points late in the second half and timeout on the floor, Elway stood up from his courtside seat and ambled to the far baseline, giving high-fives to spectators along the way.

Then, stopping in front of the student section, Elway participated in a basketball giveaway. He wound up and hurled the ball deep and high into the crowd. The old Duke still has his fastball, folks. If the Broncos really do have a salary cap crisis, maybe Elway should serve as the team's backup to Peyton Manning during the upcoming season.

Come to think of it, Plummer wouldn't be a bad candidate for that reserve role, either. At age 38, Plummer looks like he could still not only throw, but run a little spread option.

But that is a football dream.

This is hoops reality: When the CU Buffs can attract two of the greatest quarterbacks in Broncos history to the house, Roll Tad must really be rolling.